<p>I transferred from a community college to a liberal arts university last fall to earn a degree in music, and after this school year I should have one more to go plus a summer session. Music has been a big part of my life and I was so determined to earn a degree in it, but now that I'm in the swing of things as an actual music major I've begun to hate it. All this academic scrutiny and b.s. rhetoric is making me hate what I've loved so much, and I'm not sure what to do now. The reason I originally wanted to to earn a music degree, aside from principle, was to teach, but that was mainly for private lessons, which I could obviously do with or without a degree. Getting a Master's to be able to teach at the CC or University level is a nice thought but I don't know how bad I want that. So, I've definitely thought about changing majors (math, economics, creative writing have been the big 3 alternatives) but all of those would push my graduation to at least one extra year, and I'm 22 with 5 years of overall college under belt, and needless to say I'm ready to be done with this chapter. But if I stick with my music major, what can I do after graduation? I know I'll continue to perform my own music, maybe teach privately, ect. but I need to make some money, haha. How can I market a music degree to change my career path?</p>
<p>I’m wondering if perhaps you have enough credits in either math or economics to work toward a minor in addition to your B.A. in music? There are no job guarantees for many liberal arts degrees, so I don’t really think it is worthwhile to add another year of schooling/paying tuition. From what I’ve been reading, a degree in music tells a potential employer that you are hardworking and creative which are attributes managers are seeking. </p>
<p>If you enjoy creative writing you probably have strong writing skills, and that is something highly valued. If you want to become a writer you don’t need a degree, you really need time to develop your ideas and write. I don’t know what instrument you play, but if it is one that is ‘popular’ such as piano or violin you should be able to set yourself up as a private teacher fairly easily. If you live simply it may be possible to teach and write, maybe add some freelance writing in for additional modest income. </p>
<p>Having a minor in math or economics might be one way to show a potential employee that you have more than just musical skills. My husband’s word of advice for anyone is to Learn Excel Spreadsheets. If you know how to use spreadsheets, apparently you have a major advantage over other people. If you can take a course in Excel or some sort of data organization while you are still in school it might be worth looking into. Good luck, I know this is a stressful time in life.</p>
<p>How will you pay for health insurance if you are just teaching privately and gigging?</p>
<p>Get the music Ed degree, give yourself some options. You may not need health ins now, but you WIL need it down the road and it is terribly expensive.</p>
<p>A BA in music is pretty much like a BA in any other subject. You could go to grad school (for music, or most any other subject), or you could get one of those jobs that requires a college degree, but in no particular subject (like my first job out of college). And of course you would still have a better shot at a job in the music field than someone without a BA in music.</p>
<p>Jobs for new college graduates are hard to find, regardless of your major. Just last week I read an article that indicated that even many new grads with STEM majors (science, technology, engineering, math) are having a tough time finding a job in their field these days (the article was specifically about nursing school grads). When there are so many experienced people in every field looking for a job, there’s not a lot of incentive for employers to hire new college graduates. That said, college grads have a much lower unemployment rate than non-college grads, and new college grads have a lower unemployment rate than young people their same age (although the jobs may not necessarily be in their degree field).</p>
<p>Oracoj58, I guess he would pay for health insurance just like any other self employed person does. Most healthy people WAY over-insure themselves, and thats the reason that their insurance is so expensive.</p>
<p>A healthy and young single individual can get a high deductible major medical policy for less than $150/mth from a major insurance company. I am pushing 50, I pay $165/mth and my policy covers my son. It does have a $5,000 annual deductible, but I have never once in my adult life spent anything like that in health care costs. I have averaged maybe $500/year, and it’s a heck of a lot cheaper to directly pay $500 a year than it is to get one of those $800 a month low deductible policies.</p>
<p>Plus, if you have a qualifying high deductible major medical plan, you can open up a Healthcare Savings Account at any bank. Any deposits that you make into that account are tax deductible. By not having a $800 a month ripoff policy, it becomes fairly easy to save the entire deductible in a year or so, then when medical disaster does strike, you already have the deductable saved and then just let the insurance cover the rest.</p>
<p>I agree with imagep, in that you should not let the specter of future health insurance costs guide your degree plans at the undergrad level (particularly if it’s a matter of getting a music ed degree vs performance-- unless teaching music in a public school is your absolute passion.) Those jobs are not that easy to come by, so arranging your life around benefits provided by a job you may not be able to land seems impractical. Self-employed people do manage to pay for health insurance, as imagep details below.</p>
<p>There are other jobs you may be able to find that are involved with music - marketing, promotions, public relations, and even music licensing.</p>
<p>I see the thread is a little old, but I’ll pass the information on in case it helps. Here’s a list of entry level jobs that are hiring music majors:</p>
<p>[Music</a> Major Jobs - MajoredIn](<a href=“http://www.majoredin.com/jobs/Music]Music”>http://www.majoredin.com/jobs/Music)</p>